Alexia Clay

Final Week Of Regular Season Includes Twinbill With Pittsburgh On ESPNU

May 2, 2011

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NOTRE DAME, Ind. – A non-conference bout on Tuesday with Valparaiso will be followed by a pair of BIG EAST Conference series with Pittsburgh (May 3) and Connecticut (May 7-8) this week for the Notre Dame softball team.

The Irish enter the final week of the regular season on the heels of a three-game sweep of St. John’s (April 30-May 1) and two wins at USF (April 27). Two of the five wins came in the form of no-hitters.

No. 22 Notre Dame Fighting Irish
[und.com – bigeast.org]

Valparaiso Crusaders
[valpoathletics.com – horizonleague.com]
Tuesday, May 3 – 5:00 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
Live video / audio / blog: und.com
Series: Notre Dame leads, 30-2
Series streak: Notre Dame, W29
First meeting: April 13, 1989 – Valparaiso, 1-0
Last meeting: April 21, 2010 – Notre Dame, 7-6

Pittsburgh Panthers
[pittsburghpanthers.com – bigeast.org]
Wednesday, May 4 – 4:00 / 6:30 p.m. (ET)
Melissa Cook Stadium – Notre Dame, Ind.
TV: ESPNU
PxP: Holly Rowe / Color: Amanda Scarborough
Live stats: UND.com
Series: Notre Dame leads, 21-2
Series streak: Notre Dame, W1
First meeting: April 3, 1999 – Notre Dame, 6-1
Last meeting: April 4, 2009 – Notre Dame, 7-1

Connecticut Huskies
[uconnhuskies.com – bigeast.org]
Saturday, May 7 – 1:00 / 3:00 p.m. (ET)
Sunday, May 8 – 12:00 p.m. (ET)
Connecticut Softball Stadium – Storrs, Conn.
Series: Notre Dame leads, 28-7
Series streak: Notre Dame, W11
First meeting: March 12, 1993 – Notre Dame, 3-2
Last meeting: April 11, 2009 – Notre Dame, 12-4

IRISH ALERT text message updates: UND.com
Twitter: @und_com / @ndsoftball / @ndcoachgumpf
Facebook: facebook.com/unddotcom, facebook.com/notredameathletics

One-Hitters …
– Heading into this week’s six-game stretch, Notre Dame has won seven straight and 21 of its last 22 contests.
– The Irish are 15-2 at home this season and 8-1 against BIG EAST opponents … the lone league loss came to Louisville (April 17) … after the Irish took a 6-0 lead in the fifth, Louisville posted a nine-spot in the sixth to hand Notre Dame its only BIG EAST defeat on the season.
– Dating back to the end of the 2009 campaign, the Irish have won 34 of their last 36 games at Melissa Cook Stadium … in their friendly home confines, the defending BIG EAST regular season champions have won 19 of their last 20 league contests … Notre Dame is 29-8 (.784) all-time in BIG EAST games at Melissa Cook Stadium with one of those losses coming to Pittsburgh in 2009.
– Tabbed first in the BIG EAST preseason poll, a regular season title is still not out of the question for Notre Dame … DePaul remains in first place with a 17-1 league record and will play three games with USF (May 7-8) … with five league games remaining, Notre Dame would finish second if both the Irish and Blue Demons win-out … the Irish, who played just two games against both Syracuse and Villanova, could finish 19-1 with an outside shot at a title barring a USF upset win at DePaul (out-right) or even a rainout (shared).
– Last Meeting With Valparaiso (April 21, 2010): Dani Miller went 2-for-3 with a home run and four RBI, including a walk-off sacrifice fly to score Katie Fleury from third in the bottom of the seventh to give Notre Dame a 7-6 win … Miller stroked a three-run homer in her first at-bat, one of 11 hits for Notre Dame … Sadie Pitzenberger was a perfect 3-for-3 with a run scored and Fleury added two hits and crossed the plate twice … the game featured two ties and five lead changes with the squads combining for 23 hits.
– Last Meeting With Pittsburgh (April 9, 2009): Jody Valdivia carried a no-hitter against visiting Pittsburgh for four innings and finished the game with a three-hit, 14-strikeout effort to give Notre Dame a BIG EAST split with the Panthers … Valdivia walked just one batter in the 7-1 win after Notre Dame dropped the opener, 5-2.
– Last Meeting With Connecticut (April 11, 2009): Seven hits for extra bases – including four home runs – vaulted Notre Dame to a 12-4 win over Connecticut … Brittney Bargar gave up four runs on five hits while just one Husky runner got on base by means of an Irish error through the first three innings and change.

–ND–